Measuring coordination, sustainability and impact as well as government`s involvement in breaching the digital divide were the main issues at the information communication technology (ICT) empowerment working group`s mini summit in Midrand yesterday.
Communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said in her opening address that while ICT had become a vital part of society, there were many segments of society that technology and infrastructure had failed to reach. Matsepe-Cassaburi said this had created what parliament called a "second economy".
"We have come to realise that we have one economy which is very advanced and has sophisticated technology, while the other is disadvantaged. As a result, the various charters came about to try and merge the two economies," she said.
She called on government, non-government organisations, labour, academia and industry to help bridge the gap between the two economies.
The minister said that the process of formulating a charter had taken longer than she had hoped and while government believed that the charter would come into being soon, it was prepared to take a more active role if it was required.
"It is not our desire to punish any sector that does not do enough for empowerment, rather we seek to work together with the working group and the sector to bring the second economy on board," she says.
To bridge the digital divide, she said the sector needed greater innovation, infrastructure, applications, interoperability and the coordination to bridge the digital divide.
She also stressed the need for corporate social investment (CSI) and said companies needed to cast their nets wider to make a difference.
Business vs responsibility
It is not our desire to punish any sector that does not do enough for empowerment, rather we seek to work together with the working group and the sector to bring the second economy on board
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, minister, DoC
What followed was a thrashing out of ideas on how companies conduct business while contributing to the upliftment of society. Presentations were given by Dell, the Universal Service Agency (USA), Sangonet, GautengOnline, HP, Telkom, Vodacom and Microsoft.
Presentations were also made by the industry associations and a representative from the financial services charter, who gave insight into the lessons learnt in the formulation of that sector`s charter.
In one of the lively debate sessions, one delegate said it was sad that GautengOnline, the Telkom foundation, Vodacom, Microsoft and HP all had their own projects working into communities and there was little or no coordination between them. His comment received applause from the floor. Another delegate pointed out that companies would always seek unique ways for CSI in order to bolster their market image.
The ensuing debates focused on how the sector should coordinate, create, sustain and measure the impact of attempts to breach the digital divide.
Many of the delegates suggested that government should coordinate efforts through the President`s National Commission on information society and development. The Universal Service Agency was also suggested as a body to facilitate efforts, while others maintained that such efforts should be led by industry.
Dali Mpofu, chairman of the empowerment working group, says the likely outcome is that an industry monitoring body which will be set up to monitor BEE will also oversee efforts to bridge the digital divide in collaboration with government.
"Outside bridging the digital divide, corporates will be free to invest in whatever programs they wish. However when it comes to CSI that is ICT related, the monitoring body will suggest three or four national projects and will devise ways to measure the coordination, sustainability and impact of companies` involvement in those projects for the scorecard," he says.
The working group will now take all the comment from the summit and disseminate it, examining how the sector`s views will be accommodated into the charter.
The first draft of the charter is expected to be ready by the end of February and the working group hopes the final draft will be ready for an unveiling at Futurex at the Sandton Convention Centre on 18 May.
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